Means for temporarily retaining members together



MEANS FOR T EMPORARILY RETAINING MEMBERS TOGETHER Filed June 1, 1942Patented may 4, 1943 MEANS FOR TEMPOBABILY RETAINING MEMBERS TOGETHERWalter John Whitehead and Cecil Stanley Whitehead, Rochester, EnglandApplication. June 1, 1942, Serial No. 445,348 In Great Britain January16, 1942 1 Claim. (oi. ss-s) This invention relates to a means fortempo-. rarily clamping together two or more members equivalent capableof taking up a position in which it will pass through coincidingapertures in members which are to be held together, and which is adaptedafter passing clear of said members to take up a locking position inwhich it will abut one of said members to prevent the shank member beingwithdrawn, an abutment device provided on said shank member and whichcan be adjusted therealong, a retaining member slidably .mounted on saidshank member and a compressicn spring interposed between said retainingmember and an abutment on the shank member, the arrangement being suchthat the retaining member can slide back along the shank member andagainst the action of the spring to allow the shank member to be passedthrough the aligning holes to an extent suflicient for the latch to takeup its locking position, and such that on releasing the rod the springwill set up clamping pressure between the retaining member and thelatch.

The adjustment of the abutment device provided for the spring, whichpreferably is achieved by providing a screw thread mounting for saiddevice, enables the tension of the spring to be readily adjusted for agiven clamping depth between the latch and the retaining member, whilston the other hand it also enables the said clamping depth to be variedwhilst keeping to a predetermined tension pressure of the spring.Preferably the latch is pivotally mounted in a longitudinal slot formedin the shank member and is so dimensioned as to present no lateralprojection from the shank member when posi tioned for insertion of thedevice, and has a Figure 1 is a side elevation of the device shown inuse and serving to clamp together two plates which are shown bydot-and-dash lines,

Figure 2 is a plan view of Figure 1.

The device illustrated comprises a shank member consisting of a ,rod 10formed with a screw thread ll extending part-way along said rod 'fromoneend thereof, and formed at the other end with a longitudinallyextending slot E2, In the said slot I! there is mounted a latch I 3carried by a pivot pin it which extends across said slot. Said latch isadapted to have movement about said pivot pin so that to permitinsertion of the device through coinciding holes formed in plate-likemembers 9 which are to be clamped together, the said latch can, bebrought to the position indicated by dot-and-dash lines; in thisposition the latch presents no lateral obstruction from the rod ID.

A collar I5 is slidably mounted on the plain portion of the rod ill,said collar being provided with oppositely-disposed outwardly-extendingfinger pieces It. A nut ll having a knurled periphery is engaged withthe screw thread ll of the rod, and a coil compression spring l8 whichencircles the rod and has its ends engaged upon bosses i9, on the collarand nut respectapered nose piece which then projects from the A clampingdevice constructed according to a practical embodiment of the inventionis illustrated in the accompanying drawing wherein:

tively, urges apart said collar and nut. The tension of the spring canbe varied or the clamping depth can be varied for a given tension ofthespring by adjusting the nut along the thread H, the outward movementof said nut being limited by a stop piece 21 fixed on the back end ofthe rod.

It will be understood that when the parts are in the positions shown,the spring 69 exerts clamping pressure between the retaining collar l5and the latch l3 thereby firmly clamping together the plates 9; saidspring is adapted to yield to allow the rod ID to be pushed through theplates 9 to anextent sumcient for the latch to move from one to theother of its alternative positions. I

In order to set the device for use, the nut I1 is set in accordance withthe clamping depth and required clamping pressure, and the latch I3 isbrought to the position shown in dotted lines, the retaining collar itbeing held back by the fingers whilst the stop piece 2! rests in thepalm of the hand. The latch is so formed that in its said position ithas a tapered nose piece 22' projecting from the end of the rod III.

In using the device after setting and when holding same as aboveexplained, the nosepiece 22 is introduced into the coincidirm holes inthe plates 8 and the tapered form of said nose piece serves toguide thefore end of the rod ID into said holes. When the rod has been insertedto such an extent that the latch is clear 01' the plates 9, said latchis swung through a right angle to bring its major axis perpendicular tothe centre line of the rod, the latch projecting at each side of the rodas shown in full lines in Figure 1. The retaining collar 15 is nowreleased, with the result that the spring it exerts itself to presstowards one another the said collar l5 and the latch It, the plates 8consequently being clamped together firmly. To remove the device the rodI0 is pushed forwards sumciently for the latch to be brought to itsposition aligned with said rod, whereupon the device can be withdrawnfrom the plates 9.

It will be observed that the latch H can be swung in either direction tobring it from its initial position to an operative position, the latchin each case having to be returned to its original position to eflectrelease.

We claim:

A device for temporarily clamping together shank and having one end inengagement with the said adjustable abutment,- a retaining collarmounted for free sliding movement on the shank and having its inner facein engagement with the other end of the spring, and laterally disposedfinger pieces on the retaining collar adapted to be engaged by thefingers of the operator when his palm rests on said stop piece tomanipulate the retaining collar against the force of said spring.

WALTER JOHN WHITEHEAD. CECIL STANLEY WHITEHEAD.

